District and School Leadership. The Progress of Education Reform. Volume 6, Number 2
Author | : Suzanne Weiss |
Publisher | : |
Total Pages | : 6 |
Release | : 2005 |
Genre | : |
ISBN | : |
Download District and School Leadership. The Progress of Education Reform. Volume 6, Number 2 Book in PDF, ePub and Kindle
In education, as in all organizational sectors, the issue of capable leadership--what it looks like, why it matters, and how to develop and sustain it--is a source of widening interest and concern. For the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, the principal of an inner-city high school or the superintendent of a small rural district, the challenge is the same: to set a clear direction; to galvanize effort around ambitious goals; and to see that the right processes, resources and conditions are in place to help people achieve those goals. It is a tall order for any executive or manager, and even more so in the education system, where those in charge are saddled with enormous and growing burdens, including insufficient budgets; bureaucratic inertia; political conflicts; and a torrent of local, state and federal mandates. Burnout and turnover are high, and more schools and districts are finding it difficult to fill leadership positions. The problem is expected to get worse within the next 5-10 years--particularly in urban and rural areas--because of the large number of teachers and administrators approaching retirement age. At the same time, a growing body of evidence points to leadership capacity as a make-or-break factor for schools and districts under steadily increasing pressure to adapt, innovate and improve. More and more, the lack of a systematic approach to recruiting, developing and retaining talented leaders--at all levels of the education system--is shaping up as a major impediment to large-scale reform. This edition of "The Progress of Education Reform" summarizes several reports and studies that provide a quick introduction to the issue of school leadership, including: (1) How--and the extent to which--the work of principals and superintendents affects student learning and school quality; (2) The utility and effectiveness of existing professional standards for school leaders; and (3) The emergence of new ideas about the nature, structure and responsibilities of school leadership. [This issue of "The Progress of Education Reform" was made possible by a grant from the GE Foundation.].